Anglo American's chief executive Cynthia Carroll mounted a defence of her
handling of a legal row with the world's biggest copper producer, Codelco.

The two mining giants are embroiled in a messy dispute over valuable copper assets in Chile, after Anglo sold 24.5pc of its AAS unit to Japan's Mitsubishi. Codelco, owned by the Chilean state, says the $5.4bn (£3.4bn) deal breached its option rights to buy 49pc of the unit.

"We've been attempting to engage with Codelco for well over a year," Ms Carroll said. "We are open to sensible negotiations ... but at the same time we will defend our clear rights and value to our shareholders.

"We are not going away [from Chile] over this deal, we are just protecting our legal rights. They are crystal clear."

Anglo has faced talk that investors are unhappy with its strategy in the dispute, but Ms Carroll said the reaction had "actually been a very positive one".

Codelco, which has been vocal throughout the politically-charged row, kept the pressure on Anglo on Friday as its chief executive Diego Hernández said Anglo's board was hurting the wider mining industry through its actions.

"I think that Anglo's shareholders will come to the view that, over the long term, the behaviour of the board is diminishing the prospects for Anglo rather than protecting them," he said.

The comments came as Anglo announced its results for 2011. Revenues rose 11pc to $36.5bn, boosted by record diamond and coal profits amid high commodity prices. Pre-tax profits fell by 1pc to $10.8bn, as asset disposals meant the company had posted a big gain in 2010.

Anglo will pay a final dividend of 46 cents a share, taking the total dividend to the year to 74 cents a share, a rise of 14pc on the previous year.

The planned £53bn merger of miner Xstrata and commodity giant Glencore, the biggest deal ever seen in mining if successful, has sparked talk that Anglo will be in the new group's sights. Ms Carroll would not speculate on this but said the tie-up had "no impact" for Anglo. The shares closed up 30 at £26.74p.